Visitors

Occasionally, I take tours, as a guide, with groups traveling with Geocamp Iceland, an Icelandic company that helps organize tours for schools, educational institutions and teachers around the world that are interested in Iceland. Most of the time the tours are organized with an emphasis on a theme, like geology, history, or even an industry like the fishing industry in Iceland. In June, I guided a wonderful group of fifteen visitors from the Honor students program of the University of Southern...

Visitors who have traveled to Iceland sometimes send us photos, articles from their tour and videos to share. This is much appreciated and wonderful since we love hearing from people who travel our country and are prepared to share their experience. Almost all of the messages that we get are very positive and even up to a point where it is almost unbelievable. Sometimes when we are on the road, we ask people visiting Iceland about their experience. Most of the time when they are in front of a...

In April 2016, my then Fiancée, Anne and I visited Iceland for the first time and spent most of our short trip in Reykjavik. Rekjavík is the capital of Iceland. We also traveled a bit outside Reykjavík and completely fell in love with Iceland, the beauty of the country, the warmth of the people and the magical atmosphere that could be felt everywhere you go.
Married in the true Viking tradition
We loved it so much we came back this month and on 16 June 2016. We decided to make an everlasting...

We were gifted with a trip to Iceland for my boyfriend, Oliver’s 21st by his family. He’s a freelance filmmaker local to Cambridgeshire. He’ll always take his camera wherever we go and decided to make some memories there.
Blue Lagoon and Golden Circle
We’ve both been in love with Iceland simply from pictures and have always wanted to visit. Oliver’s family knew this and decided to surprise us. We were only there for three days but managed to check out the Blue Lagoon, which was incredible and...

Stu Brew and Anne Lowe love Iceland. They sent us this fantastic video from their trip, and we love to put their experience on our website. When they decided to com to Iceland, they wanted to experience new things and see new places, so they decided to travel to Iceland as the allure of beautiful scenery and magical uniqueness, and it was captivating! They traveled from Scotland to Reykjavík, where they also stayed for the weekend. Stu and Anne had the pleasure of exploring the city, bathing in...

We at Hit Iceland met Francesca last summer hitchhiking on the Ring Road from Kirkjubæjarklaustur to Reyðarfjörður. Fortunately, we were driving al the way to Neskaupstaður, only a mountain pass away from Reyðarfjörður. We fount her story fascinating as she had traveled to Iceland with her parents fifteen years earlier and completely fallen in love with the country and the Icelandic nature. After that, she has been in Iceland a few times for work and travel. We were also impressed by all the...

Due to its high latitude and subarctic climate, Iceland is critically positioned at the forefront of the fight against global warming. In recent years, this tiny island nation has become a hub for international research and a whole host of conferences on Arctic policy making and preservation. One of the most prominent transnational gatherings for discussion of Arctic issues is the Arctic Circle Conference, which takes place in Reykjavík once a year.
Takeshi Atwater-Kaji—a San Francisco native,...

A country rife with enchanting landscapes and breathtaking natural wonders, Iceland is not only an outdoorsman’s paradise but also a place where cutting edge scientific research of all kinds takes place. For example, the nation’s small, insular population has made Iceland a top destination for cancer researchers and geneticists fascinated by the purity of Icelanders’ ancestry, with companies like deCODE Genetics leading the way in unlocking the mysteries of the human genome.
Sarah Lucht, a...

Every year, countries across Europe hold national pre-selections to determine who will represent them in the Eurovision Song Contest—a spectacular annual music competition, broadcast all across Europe, that is a sort of entertaining blend between The X Factor and the Olympics. Though always optimistic, Iceland has yet to win the competition in its thirty years of participation, although the country boasts two stellar second-place finishes, one in 1998 and the other in 2009.
Over the years,...

Political upheaval and unrest in Syria has spawned a global refugee crisis and Iceland is doing its part to help. With no end to Syria’s political turmoil in sight, Iceland has recruited aid workers from around the world, who specialize in refugee response, to help them prepare for an increase in new residents. Enter Dr. Nicole Dubus, a professor at San Jose State University in California with over 20 years of experience in social work. Nicole, who has counseled refugees in community and mental...

Iceland is a nation that holds a special place in the hearts of many people from many places for many different reasons. Whether it’s the rolling landscapes, the charming countryside, or the vibrant capital city, Iceland’s geography never ceases to captivate and inspire all who visit. Wivian Kristiansen—a school teacher from Norway—first encountered Iceland as a child, not through a vacation, not through friends or family ties, but rather through a little-known children’s story book by an...

Many tourists visit Iceland to explore the nation’s rugged landscapes and photograph the country’s splendorous wildlife, while others prefer to spend their stay in Reykjavík, learning about the capital’s vast cultural history and dining at several of the city’s luxurious restaurants.In recent years, Iceland’s largest city has been garnering international acclaim for its diverse culinary selection, as well as its thriving night life and fascinating walking tours, which take travelers on a...

Iceland, with its close proximity to the U.S., Canada, and mainland Europe, is an ideal location for travelers of all types—from experienced globe-trotters to first-time international tourists. The nature is inspiring, the people hospitable, the city entertaining, and the culture a distinct and diverse conglomeration of Scandinavian, European, and North American influences. Pablo Juarez, a native of Ottawa, Canada, returned to Reykjavík for a second time this winter, after a memorable journey...

During the dark winter months, travelers from every corner of the world fly to Iceland in hopes of catching a glimpse of the spectacular northern lights. This natural phenomenon—which is created by solar winds disturbing the earth’s magnetosphere—faithfully lights up the Icelandic sky in undulating shades of green and red every year, creating an awe-inspiring display of natural beauty that is as memorable as it is breathtaking. Real estate attorney and university advisor Ana Droscoski ventured...

A pleasant city with a cool climate, Reykjavík—Iceland’s capital—is home to a variety of locally-owned coffee shops, each with its own unique culture, charm, and clientele. Whether you are a casual coffee-drinker or a coffee connoisseur, the world’s northernmost capital has something to offer even the pickiest of palates. After their horse-riding tour was canceled due to a sudden winter storm, London residents Omid Pakan and Sophie Camp decided to grab their morning coffee at Café Brennslan, a...

A vibrant capital city that is home to approximately 220,000 residents, Reykjavik possesses the perfect blend of metropolitan energy and small town appeal. Whether it’s the hustle and bustle of its vivacious night life, the serene natural beauty of the nearby geothermal valley Laugardalur, or the allure of its diverse art and music scenes, Iceland’s capital has something to satisfy every tourist’s interests and expectations. For Imogen Wilson, a lighting and television set designer from Canada...

Every year, Iceland Airwaves attracts bands and solo artists from around the world who consistently push and challenge the boundaries of music. Iceland is home to groundbreaking artists like Björk, Mammút and Sigur Rós, making it the ideal location for a cutting-edge musical event where the unconventional is conventional and innovation is the star of the show. We found husband and wife Sven and Julia Jordan—two indie-music enthusiasts from Hannover, Germany—lounging in the halls of Harpa...

Although Iceland’s stunning landscapes and otherworldly scenery mesmerize sightseers and photographers from all over the world, Icelanders—and the stories they tell—can serve as a tremendous source of inspiration for tourists in search of fond travel memories and fresh perspectives. A fiercely independent people with a long-standing literary tradition, Icelanders are intensively creative and resilient people. Furthermore, their geographic isolation, coupled with their proximity to both America...

Located on Bankastræti in downtown Reykjavík—just a few minutes walk from Harpa Concert Hall, Hallgrímskirkja, and Tjörnin (the city pond)—Loft Hostel is a cozy, multi-story hotel complete with a café, bar, and a rooftop terrace that offers stunning views of the city and the northern lights during the winter months.
For locals, the hostel is also a popular venue for intimate concerts and poetry readings, as well as small social events that demand a laidback vibe and atmosphere.
We found Matthew...

Once a year at the beginning of November, tourists and Icelanders flood the city of Reykjavík for the five-day music festival Iceland Airwaves. This energetic event not only attracts emerging and well-established bands from across Europe and North America -- it also draws in a diverse, dynamic crowd of music lovers and Iceland enthusiasts from around the world. London resident Amalchi Castillo-Rodriguez and New York resident Paul Sauline—two former neighbors—decided to travel to the festival...

Icelandic, a North Germanic language with over 330,000 native speakers, is the official language of Iceland and the closest equivalent to the language of the Vikings spoken today. Due to Iceland’s cultural insularity and geographic isolation, the Nordic tongue has remained so well preserved that present-day Icelanders can still read ancient Viking texts in their original Old Norse with little to no assistance.
This dynamic language, with its elaborate grammar and rich literary heritage, has...

It doesn’t matter if you are someone who likes to plan vacations meticulously, or someone who likes to travel spontaneously—Iceland is an ideal location for everyone. New York City resident Scott Blair decided to embark on a spur-of-the-moment trip to Iceland with a friend in hopes of seeing otherworldly scenery and exploring spectacular geothermal landscapes—and his trip to the island nation did not disappoint. An attorney who moved to the Big Apple in 2008 to begin law school at New York...

A unique capital city that is both lively and laidback, Reykjavík is home to some of Iceland’s most spectacular tourist destinations, including Harpa—a prismatic concert hall located near the city’s stunning harbor. The structure, which was designed by Danish design company Hanning Larsen Architects in cooperation with renowned Icelandic-Danish designer Ólafur Elíasson, strongly resembles Iceland’s basalt rock formations, and has dazzled visitors and locals alike since it first opened in 2011....

For some tourists, traveling to Iceland represents an exciting, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, while for others one trip can turn into a lifelong relationship with the island nation and its people. For frequent visitor Dr. Kimberly Cannady—who teaches ethnomusicology at Victoria University of Wellington—Iceland is just one of many stops on her most recent research trip across the Arctic.
An American-born scholar who is writing a book about music traditions in the northernmost regions of the...